


Of Noodle Soup and Sick Days

by The_Consulting_Werewolf



Series: We All Need More Krisho in Our Lives (A Domestic AU Series) [22]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 11:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16533509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Consulting_Werewolf/pseuds/The_Consulting_Werewolf
Summary: In which Kyungsoo falls sick and Yifan takes care of him.





	Of Noodle Soup and Sick Days

**Author's Note:**

> the events of this fic are set in 2020; Kyungsoo is 4, Yifan is 31 and Junmyeon is 30.

Junmyeon chews the inside of his mouth as he watches Yifan talk to his boss. His husband is taking a couple of days off from work, and he is going back to the school after two days. Kyungsoo is sick and Junmyeon had stayed home for the last few days taking care of their son, Yifan stepped in today and urged him to go to work; he has already missed the first two days after the holidays ended and the last term has started. Junmyeon is sort of unwilling to leave Kyungsoo, and his feet somehow take him to his son’s room and his heart lurches when he sees the small body under the layer of blankets, sleeping.

Junmyeon pads into the room, as silently as he can, and leans over Kyungsoo, who scrunches his nose. He puts his hand on the child’s head and his teeth clamp down on his lower lip at how hot the skin is underneath his fingers. The door creaks open and Junmyeon doesn’t need to know Yifan is in the room. He feels a firm grip on his shoulder and he raises his own hand, his fingers lacing through Yifan’s. Junmyeon feels a squeeze and he looks up, his lips trembling. Yifan cards his fingers through Junmyeon’s hair and whispers, “It’s okay, I am here, I will take care of him.”

Junmyeon nods; he has to go to work, he can’t pull another day off. He gently touches Kyungsoo’s face and presses a light kiss on his forehead. He gets up and Yifan collects him in his arms, his face buried in Junmyeon’s hair. Junmyeon tightens his arms around Yifan’s waist and sighs into Yifan’s chest. None of them ever had to take care of a sick child before, so it is has been daunting sometimes. They are following every instruction the doctor set for them to the T, but the fear that they are somehow messing up remains.

Junmyeon finally leaves for work and Yifan keeps standing on the doorway till he sees Junmyeon’s car wind its way down the street and turning at the corner. Yifan steps back inside, and starts preparing Kyungsoo’s breakfast to go along with his morning round of medication. It is a viral fever but since Kyungsoo is so small, the doctor is keeping the medicines mild so it doesn’t overwhelm him.

Yifan prepares the tray with a glass of juice and congee, and heads upstairs. He doesn’t want to wake Kyungsoo up, not when he had such a difficult time sleeping last night. But he needs to eat, so Yifan gently shakes his shoulder, keeping his voice soft as he says, “Hey, baobei, wake up.”

Kyungsoo slowly opens his eyes with a groan. He feels tired even though he just woke up, and he feels weak. Yifan helps him seat up and aligns the pillows so Kyungsoo can lay back on them. Yifan puts the bowl on his lap and says, “You have to eat, okay? If you don’t, I won’t be able to give you those funny little pills.”

Kyungsoo frowns, “Those pills taste bad.”

Yifan smiles a little, “I know they do, but they will make you feel better.”

Kyungsoo nods; he feels Yifan touch his forehead and hum, “Fever is still there, but I don’t think it is too much. Let me take your temperature before I feed you, okay?” Kyungsoo nods again. Yifan puts the thermometer under his tongue and times it. He pulls it out and smiles wider, “Lesser than yesterday, thank god.” He cups Kyungsoo’s face and asks, “How are you feeling Soo?”

“Cold, sleepy,” Kyungsoo explains. Yifan understands, he picks up the spoon and starts feeding the congee to Kyungsoo. When the bowl is clean of food, Yifan helps Kyungsoo take his pills, washing it down with the juice.

Yifan wipes Kyungsoo’s face and lets him lie down again. He cards his fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair and says, “I will be going downstairs, okay? I will be back as soon as I clean the kitchen.”

Kyungsoo nods his head but he reaches for Yifan’s hand anyway. His small hand can only manage to wrap around two of Yifan’s fingers and the older man feels his heart melt at that. Kyungsoo squeezes lightly and Yifan leans down to gently brush his lips against his temple. “I will come back, Soo.”

Kyungsoo finally lets Yifan go and Yifan tries to be as fast as possible cleaning the dishes and the counter. He grabs his own breakfast and his laptop before he returns to Kyungsoo’s room. Kyungsoo has kicked off the two blankets off of himself, which means the medicines have kicked in and he will start sweating soon. Yifan will give him his bath then, to further cool him down.

Meanwhile, Yifan sits down on the floor, on top of a rug, with his back to the bed as he replies to some emails and finishes some of the graphics he had been procrastinating on. He doesn’t do freelance work anymore, but it was for an old friend, so he agreed. An hour passes and he hears Kyungsoo whine softly, “Too hot gege.”

Yifan quickly shuts his laptop and helps Kyungsoo remove the blanket. Kyungsoo tugs at his t-shirt, shifting uncomfortably in the bed as he sweats out the fever. Yifan croons, “Hey, hey, wait, it’s alright, we will take your bath now, okay?”

Kyungsoo’s face scrunches up as he reaches for Yifan, making grabby hands at him. Yifan swoops him up and Kyungsoo wraps his limbs around his body, tucking his face on Yifan’s shoulder. “Gege…”

“Yes, Soo, it will go away, just wait.”

Yifan walks to the bathroom, and still holding Kyungsoo, runs a bath. He maintains the temperature to be cool but not too cold. He lets the water fill the tub for some time before he puts Kyungsoo down on the floor and carefully helps Kyungsoo take off his clothes.  Yifan picks up again and gently puts him in the water. Kyungsoo sighs when the cool water touches his sweaty, feverish skin. Yifan smiles, “Does that feel nice?”

“Very much gege,” Kyungsoo smiles back.

Yifan uses the hand shower to wet Kyungsoo’s hair as well and he watches the kid almost melt in relief as the stickiness washes away. He doesn’t let Kyungsoo stay in the water for much longer even if Kyungsoo sends him the widest puppy eyes and biggest pout. Yifan towel dries him before he wraps the towel around Kyungsoo, who laughs at being rolled into a burrito, and it eases Yifan’s heart at watching Kyungsoo laugh this freely after days of tears.

Kyungsoo giggles some more as he is lifted up by his gege like that. Yifan too laughs at Kyungsoo’s joy; the child is so small and sometimes Yifan is almost too afraid to touch him. He knows he is clumsy with his big hands and long limbs, so he is always extra careful with Kyungsoo. He carries Kyungsoo back to his room and puts him down on the bed. Kyungsoo manages to extricate his hands, grinning, “Gege, I want to wear the penguins!”

Yifan grins back, “Alright baobei!”

Yifan pulls out said pyjamas, which are an icy blue with small penguins printed all over. It has become Kyungsoo’s favourite thing to wear ever since Jongdae and Yongsun gave it to him for Christmas. It was mostly Jongdae who couldn’t stop laughing at how much Kyungsoo looks like his favourite cartoon character himself (Kyungsoo _loves_ Pororo).

Yifan puts the pyjamas on Kyungsoo and the latter suddenly says, “Gege?”

“Hm?”

“What do you mean by baobei? You call me that a lot.”

Yifan smiles; he boops Kyungsoo nose and says, “Baeobei in my language means dear and precious, and you are all that to me, and Junmyeon.”

Kyungsoo widens his eyes slightly before his face flushes a deep red. He tries to grab Yifan’s hands again but Yifan is quicker this time and pulls the two tiny fists into his hands, raising his eyebrows in askance—Kyungsoo has that expression again where he wants to ask someone something but doesn’t know how to start. Kyungsoo murmurs, “Gege, what is appa called in your language?”

Yifan frowns slightly, wondering why Kyungsoo is asking such a question, but he replies anyway, “Well, I used to call mine baba.”

Kyungsoo looks up. “Can I call you baba then?”

Yifan is taken aback, completely. It has been months since Kyungsoo has been with them, and he has never called them anything but hyung or gege. Yifan doesn’t understand what brings this on, but his heart clenches and he tries to pretend his eyes aren’t filling with tears. To hide his emotional state, he gently pulls Kyungsoo into a hug and says, “Of course you can call me baba.”

Yifan leans back when he thinks he has a better grip on his feelings and finds Kyungsoo grinning up at him. Yifan says, “Okay now, lay down, okay? What would you like for lunch?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t lie down but stays seated up, back resting on the headboard as he thinks. Yifan sits down as well and Kyungsoo says, “I want soup, and, and noodles!”

“Alright, then,” Yifan nods but then he remembers they don’t have any chicken stock in the house and he can’t make stock out of scratch either since he doesn’t have a whole chicken in his fridge as well. He says to himself, “Oh crap, I need to go shopping.”

“Can I come?” Kyungsoo asks, his face brightening up.

Yifan shakes his head as he gets to his feet, “Absolutely not. I will go and be right back.”

Kyungsoo pouts, “Baba, please? I haven’t been outside in so long!”

Yifan halts; Kyungsoo just used the ultimate weapon against him. How can he say no to that? He groans, “Okay, okay.”

Yifan was planning to head to the nearest grocery store and pick up some stock cubes, and the walk isn’t long. But, he carries Kyungsoo to the store whole way anyway. Kyungsoo also doesn’t change out of his pyjamas, so the father-son duo manage to grab plenty of attention as they walk inside the store. Some older people come and coo at Kyungsoo who gets all shy and hides in the crook of Yifan’s neck. However, Yifan’s chest expands every time someone calls his son cute. His son is the _cutest_.

Yifan grabs the stock cubes and some other things, and heads towards the cash counter. He checks out quickly and the cashier, who already knows them, asks about Kyungsoo’s health since the grocery store also has a pharmacy section and Junmyeon and Yifan had been here hounding the pharmacist with a million questions. Yifan gives the kindly woman an update and Kyungsoo shyly says, “Baba is taking care of me today.”

“You will be fine in no time!” the woman says.

They come back home and Kyungsoo refuses to return to his bedroom, so Yifan puts him in the living room with his blanket, a bottle of water and an orange lollipop Kyungsoo picked up. The television is turned on and Kyungsoo is delighted to see there are Pororo reruns happening. Yifan pats his head and says, “If you feel terrible, call me, okay?”

“Okay baba!” Kyungsoo says as he snuggles into the couch, his attention completely into Pororo now. But Yifan is trying hard to not dissolve into tears again because this has been a monumental day.

He walks into the kitchen and sends Junmyeon a message telling him what happened. Kyungsoo calling him baba is going down among the most memorable days of his life. He collects himself and gets to making lunch. He sticks to a tried and tested recipe of his mother’s chicken noodle recipe. He also puts almost every vegetable in the fridge into the soup—thank goodness Kyungsoo isn’t that picky about vegetables or fruits.

As the soup simmers on the stove, Yifan gets a call from Junmyeon. As soon as Yifan picks up the call, Junmyeon speaks, “Hey, did he really call you baba?”

“Yes, Myeon, he did, I might be still shaking,” Yifan laughs, half nervous and half ecstatic. “But don’t you have class?”

“No, lunch break just started, and I _had_ to call you,” Junmyeon laughs and Yifan can tell he is too trying hard not to cry. “It really happened, I wish I was here to hear it.”

Someone in the background suddenly calls for Junmyeon, so their conversation is cut short. Yifan returns to cooking and adds the noodles last. They cook fast and he scoops the food in two bowls. He decides to clear the kitchen space to allow the soup to cool down a bit. He returns to the living room and finds Kyungsoo still deeply engrossed into Pororo. He puts the bowl down on the coffee table and laughs, “Okay, my penguin, lunch.”

Kyungsoo slowly rises up from the couch, the blanket slipping from his shoulders. Yifan frowns, he looks a little washed out again. Yifan touches his forehead and it feels warmer than before. “Soo, I think your fever is returning. Can you eat on your own or do you need me to?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head and grabs the bowl himself. Yifan can’t be easy; he eats his noodle soup but keeps looking at Kyungsoo, just to make sure he doesn’t drop the bowl on himself or anything. To his greatest relief, Kyungsoo finishes the bowl and even slurps up the very last of the soup. He puts the bowl down and grins at Yifan, “That was tasty!”

Yifan feels his heart warming at the compliment. He wipes Kyungsoo’s face as he says, “Thank you Soo.”

Yifan next hands Kyungsoo his medicines and the latter still refuses to go to his room, so Yifan decides to sit down beside Kyungsoo on the couch. He wraps Kyungsoo in the blanket and Kyungsoo crawls onto his lap. He puts his head over Yifan’s chest and says, “Baba, can you sing me a song? Hyung always sings me songs…”

Yifan laughs, “Oh Soo, I am not a singer,” Kyungsoo  pouts, “Okay, I will try.”

So, Yifan sings a Mandarin lullaby and Kyungsoo wonders why Yifan told him he can’t sing because he thinks the older man’s voice is nice and deep, and it kind of is making him sleepy. So, he closes his eyes, his lids getting heavier and he slowly falls asleep.

Yifan turns the television off and looks at Kyungsoo sleeping in his arms. The child is so small, so incredibly small in his arms. He was so worried about being a father to Kyungsoo when they brought him home last year. It was a learning curve for sure, for him and for Junmyeon. Kyungsoo was trying to adjust to them and them to him, but looking back at the last few months, he can see they have come quite far. He is still learning and he is starting to think no one really has cracked the code to parenting. Every child is different and Yifan knows this much that what works for one kid will not work for the other. Kyungsoo is a sweet, affectionate child though he doesn’t quite grasp that it is okay to seek for validation, for hugs, for anything from his parents. He also likes his space, to be left on his own to figure things out. He is his own person and Yifan hopes the two of them manage to raise him right. He hopes their son becomes a good human being above all, and that he is happy.

Yifan kisses the top of Kyungsoo’s head and he too kind of feels sleepy, so he slides down the couch and puts Kyungsoo on his side. He makes sure Kyungsoo is comfortable before he closes his eyes and slowly falls asleep.

 

Junmyeon gets to leave the school early; Minseo already knew that Kyungsoo is sick, so she approves his early leave. Adding to that, Yifan isn’t picking his phone up, which amps up his worry to dangerous levels. He is lucky that while driving back home he managed to not knock something or someone down.

His hands shake as he tries to open the door to his house, his mind cooking up ridiculous scenarios. He finally manages to get the door open and he is about to call for his husband and son, but then he finds them in the living room, curled up together, fast asleep.

The relief he feels can’t be compared to anything else in the world. He puts his bag down and smiles, pulling his phone out. He quickly takes a photo and as he looks at the image in his screen, his smile widens. He is going to print this out—today, after all is a memorable day. Kyungsoo acknowledged one of them as his father.


End file.
